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Hours after returning from the Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, Aditya Ghosh, President, IndiGo, spoke to BusinessLin e on the 250 NEO aircraft order and what it means for the airline. Edited excerpts from the interview.
When does the delivery of the 250 aircraft begin and end?
The order delivery begins in 2018 and continues till 2026. Do remember that the last of the first 100 aircraft that we have already ordered will be delivered in the next couple of weeks.
From October next year delivery of the 180 aircraft ordered in 2011 will begin and go on for the next few years.
What are the plans with the latest order of 250 aircraft?
These are exciting times for IndiGo, since fuel accounts for 50 per cent of the cost of operations in India and the new aircraft provides us with a 15 per cent reduction in costs on account of its fuel burn. We have always said that India is a highly under-penetrated market as regards aircraft density. China, Indonesia and Philippines have three to four times more aircraft penetration than India. In the next 12 years we will induct 430 aircraft, which will help us plan for the long-term.
What will the airline’s focus be with the induction of the new aircraft?
The primary focus will still be on India. But these orders also give the co-founders the option of looking outside.
How will the aircraft induction be funded?
In the same fashion as before. We do not have any working capital loans. Fiscal 2014 is the sixth year of profitability for IndiGo.
How will you respond to criticism that IndiGo is an airline which is into leasing aircraft?
We have never leased aircraft to another airline. We have tried to keep our average aircraft age at about six years.
How many aircraft will IndiGo have when the latest 250-aircraft order finishes?
It is very difficult to say. Last year we thought that by December we will have a fleet of 84 but we reached that figure much earlier.
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